


Behind the Mask

by fieryheart959



Category: LinkedUniverse(Fandom, The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Blame the LU Discord, Dread, Edited Live Write, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Found Family, Gen, He has a nightmare and then the fam comforts him, Linked Universe (Legend of Zelda), Nightmares, Nonverbal Communication, Sign Language, Time angst, how to tag, i almost forgot that tag
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-16
Updated: 2020-06-16
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:13:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,083
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24759871
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fieryheart959/pseuds/fieryheart959
Summary: When an old adventure haunts Time's dreams, he'll have to figure out how to tell his boys what really happened.
Relationships: Four & Hyrule & Legend & Sky & Time & Twilight & Warriors & Wild & Wind (Linked Universe), Time & His Boys
Comments: 11
Kudos: 224





	Behind the Mask

**Author's Note:**

> Blame the LU discord. Blame my need for Time angst and fluff. Blame my need for Time whump.

When Time opens his eye, an abyss greets him. An infinite expanse of black so thick he can barely see his hands as he reaches out to try and find _something_ , _anything_ , in the darkness.

He isn't left alone in the black for long. Behind him, a light begins to shine, but when he turns to face it, it is so bright he has to turn around in order to not go completely blind. When he musters up the courage to face it again, he isn't alone. 

There's a statue off in the distance, and although it's far, Time feels as though he knows this figure. He shifts, startling when his feet suddenly touch solid ground instead of the inky etherealness from before. It's a fight to reach the statue. The darkness tries to drag him back, whispering empty promises but he soldiers forward. When he reaches the statue, he realizes it isn't a statue. Not exactly.

It's Four, standing completely still, except for the slow and steady rise of his chest. Time breathes a sigh of relief.

"Four, thank whoever you're okay. Do you know where we are?" Four stays silent, only blinking at him with a small tilt of his head.

"No idea huh? I'll try to see if I remember this place." Time closes his eye as he tries to match this strange whispering abyss to a place from his adventures. A sick feeling in his stomach makes him open his eye and releases a gasp of horror at the sight in front of him.

Four is still standing there, but on his face is a strange heart-shaped mask, bulging eyes boring into Time's soul as Majora stares back at him from his friend's face. 

"Four, no, you need to take that off!" When the smallest hero makes no move to do so, Time takes the job upon himself, ripping the mask off...and then involuntarily shouting in fear when he turns to face his friend again.

Four's face is gone, replaced with a smooth plane of skin as he tilts his head further in questioning. Time doesn't even notice the ash, transfixed upon where his friend's eyes would be, until the disintegrating reaches Four's chest.

"Nonono, wait-!" Time desperately tries to grab at the ash as Four fades into the abyss, dust floating delicately into the light which only seems to burn Time's skin. He doesn't even realize he's crying until the liquid drops into the small pile of ash he has in his hands, clumping in the center as even that too, fades away.

_It..._

Time shakily stands up, not knowing when he had dropped to his knees, using his sword for balance. Looking around, he sees another figure in the distance, and again he gets that eerie familiarity pulling on his heart. He wipes the last of his tears. If it's an enemy, he can't show weakness. If it's one of his boys...He needs to be ready to provide comfort instead of take it.

He trudges through the abyss again, and it's harder than before to not just _let_ the darkness take him. It whispers of promises, of bringing back his friend, of letting him live in peace. He stumbles when it whispers of bringing back Navi. He shakes his head, but the abyss almost seems to smile, and digs in further.

**Don’t you miss her?** He does, but she’s long gone. **We could bring her back.** She’s gone. He knows that well enough. **Just say yes.** No!

He turns and swings his sword in a wide arc, and the abyss retreats...for now. He knows it's type. It'll be back.

He returns to walking, using his sword as a support as he walks toward the figure which he can now recognize as Sky.

He stops when he sees Sky has something in his hand. He almost drops when he sees it's a heart-shaped mask.

"Sky, _no_." Sky sneers, the look unnatural on the usually smiling face.

"And why _shouldn't_ I?" Time's eye widens instantly.

"You don't know what it'll do to y- **_NO!_** "

Time lunges forward in a desperate attempt to stop Sky from making this _stupid_ , **terrible** decision. Only, once he grabs the Skyloftian's shoulder, it turns to dust beneath his fingers.

His throat closes as Sky fades, the mask staring at Time as he does, almost mocking him. _You did this_ , it seems to say. He can't make a sound except a choked, broken sob.

He sags there, only standing due to his hand on his sword, staring at the spot Sky used to be. _This can't be happening_ , he thinks frantically. _It can't be_ **_my fault_ **.

Something seems to tug at him, pulling him along and he lets it. Two of his friends have just...faded in front of him and he can't imagine how much he is crying right now.

_  
Will..._

As he's dragged by a force that burns wherever it touches him, he sees the abyss creeping back up on him. It's tendrils slither along the black floor, only visible due to the burning light catching on them. He can barely hear it's whispers while getting dragged, and he only catches snippets of it's empty promises.

**Back** ... **together** ... **peace**

The force drops him and he is left to groggily stand and face the next statue. Hyrule.

"Hyrule, please-" Hyrule _snarls_.

"Just because you lead us doesn't mean I have to listen to you!" Time can't get much more out than a strangled scream as Hyrule defiantly shoves the mask on his face.

Hyrule's voice is muffled behind the mask.

"You know, don't you? You failed and left me and him in that...that _wasteland_ of a Hyrule. You're pathetic and I hope you end up in a wasteland of your own." Time only has to reach for the young hero before the ash starts falling.

Legend stands behind him, mask already on. He doesn't even say anything, just turning away and crumbling to dust.

The fact that the witty hero didn't even have anything to say cuts deeper than Time thought anything ever could.

The force grabs him by the back of the neck again and he hisses as it's touch burns. The abyss creeps ever closer and he catches more of the promises.

**Help** ... **Say yes** ... **Bring back** ... **Family** ... _Consume_ ... **Worry-Free** ... **Given Peace**

The force drops him almost comically, throwing him at the feet of the next statue, taking the breath out of him as he collides with the abyss' floor.

"Wow. And they say _I'm_ clumsy."

Time looks up in a panic at the voice. Wind is leering over him, a smirk painted on his young face. His hands are on his hips and in one of them he clutches that all-too-familiar mask.

"Wind-" Wind cuts him off with a growl.

"No! No babying me anymore! You all do it and I'm _sick_ of it! I can handle myself just fine!" Wind pulls himself up to his full height, now both hands gripping the demon's mask.

"Yes, you can, you can handle yourself very well, just _not against this_." Time says it all quickly in a panic. That seems to be the wrong thing to say as Wind's face distorts even more in fury.

"Well **TOO BAD** ! This is **_my time to shine_ ** !" And with that, Wind slams the mask on his face. Time _screams_ as the youngest hero turns to ash almost immediately after putting the mask on. His stomach twists again as the now sickening feeling of familiarity overcomes him twice as strong.

"No..." His voice is weak and croaking as he looks up into the face of a man he calls "brother."

"You know, I thought I recognized you. I just never thought that the bright little kid from my adventure would turn into this sad pathetic little...thing."

Time manages to right himself(when did he fall over?) and face Warriors head-on.

“Warriors...please, you really don't have to do thi-"

"Don't I though?" He spins the mask in his hands. "You never did tell me what all these stupid things did. Isn't it about time I found out myself?" Warriors seems to contemplate the mask a moment more before settling it on his face. 

"Oh? You never told me these had _power_ , Old Man."

"I bet I could kill you right where you stand." To prove his point, Warriors dashes forward, kicking Time onto his back and settling his boot on Time's chest, pinning the older man down.

" **_Pathetic._ **" It's the last thing he says before disintegrating into dust.

... _Everything_ …

His stomach must do a flip when the sickening feeling that almost makes him vomit hits him like a wave.

The Light burns more than before and he thinks that yes, maybe he _is_ going to go completely blind before suddenly standing in the shadows of two interlinked statues. They're holding hands from what Time can see, each of them gripping their own demon mask in their unused hand.

_...It will..._

Time's eyes suddenly widens when he sees who those silhouettes belong to.

"No, please, I can't, please, **_no_ **-"

_...Consume..._

Time starts running, blocking out the abyss in the back of his mind(when did it get there?!) as he sprints towards his descendants.

_...Everything..._

They're so much farther away than he thought and every step is a fight against his aching body, but he just _has_ to keep going.

Tears are freely streaming from both eyes as he sprints, his breath is coming hard, every muscle _aches_ . The light burns his remaining eye but he keeps moving until _finally_ he's standing just in front of them, having circled around as to not face the light.

_...It will consume everything..._

Wild and Twilight stand, hands interlocked, smiling with blissful expressions on their faces, staring into the light.

"Nonono, please, snap out of it!" He begs, shaking Twilight before turning to Wild and slapping him.

They both ignore him.

Their arms are moving, the masks are being raised and there is _chanting in his mind_.

_It will consume everything._

_It will consume everything._

**_I_ ** _will consume everything._

The masks are on, the voice has changed, why does he _recognize that voice?!_

The voice has moved, it's not _in_ him anymore, it's _behind_ him.

He freezes when he realizes. He slowly turns and screams.

The moon stares back at him, the light is gone, but the burning hasn't stopped, why hasn't it stopped, why is the moon talking, you know why it's talking.

Dust at the edge of his vision makes him turn around so fast that if he were in a less stressful situation he would be afraid of whiplash. Wild and Twilight are _gone_.

" **_NO!_ **"

_They're gone, little Kokiri. All of them. And there's nothing you can do to bring them back._

Majora's voice whispers to him.

_There's nothing you can do to stop me. And now I..._

**_I W I L L C O N S U M E E V E R Y T H I N G !_ **

The moon begins to fall.

Time screams.

“Wake up!”

He sits upright in his bedroll, sword drawn already, only to be greeted by Twilight's face. _Twilight's whole face._ Not dust. Time's breathing is still erratic, his eye is still glancing around. Twilight may be here but what about everyone else? Are his boys...? Catching Four in the edge of his vision helps a bit then he turns and sees Warriors, Wind and Legend too. Turning to his other side reveals Hyrule, Wild, and Sky.

"Are you okay? You were..." Wind starts. He nods numbly, still reeling from what he could now only assume was a nightmare.

"I think it best if we leave him alone for now," Twilight says, softly placing a hand on Time's shoulder, "We can talk tomorrow, alright Pops?"

Again, he nods numbly, still doesn't move much, even as Four eases the sword out of his hands.

"Everyone, stay in sight, but go back to sleep. I'll help Time." Everyone nods and trudges off, even as Twilight stays by his side. It helps, even if it's only a miniscule comfort, to see all of them safe and sound. Twilight drags his bed roll over to Time's, but doesn't lay down.

"You gave us a nasty scare, pops," He starts, giving his ancestor a weak smile, "We woke up to you whimpering and crying in your sleep. We decided to wake you up when you started screaming."

He opens his mouth to respond but fear closes his throat. He's afraid if he says something Twilight will suddenly crumble to dust, like he did just minutes ago. Twilight catches on.

"No, you don't have to talk about it. Like I said, we can talk about it in the morning." Time's anxiety only jumps. He's not sure if he'll be able to talk in the morning. The fear blocking his throat seems too powerful for him to break it's dam on his voice.

"Just...try to get some sleep, alright? We're heading out at dawn, remember?" He does remember. Wild's Hyrule isn't exactly a place that lets you forget. They'll be heading to the Faron region because Flora said there had been an increase in abnormally strong monsters in the area.

Right now though, all Time wants to do is grab his boys and go into an underground bunker where no one can hurt them.

Twilight reaches out to shake his shoulder good-naturedly but Time flinches back. Touch made them crumble. He couldn't touch them if he wanted them to stay.

Twilight looks hurt for just a moment before reminding himself that touch probably had something to do with pops' nightmare. He schools his expression and puts his hand down.

"Goodnight pops. I'll see you in the morning."

Twilight turns and lays down, quickly falling back to sleep. Time doesn't. He stays awake and anytime his eyes start to close, he just sees one of his boys crumbling in front of him.

* * *

When morning comes, he's still awake. Wild is one of the first up. He glances over, concern written all over his features as Time curls up, arms hugging his knees but still keeping everyone in sight.

 _I'm making breakfast_ , Wild signs, _Want anything in particular?_

Time shakes his head. Wild spares one more concerned glance before turning to the cooking pot. Even though his vocal cords are irreparably scarred, he can hum just fine, and hum he does. It's one of the songs the old king taught him up on the plateau. It has no real name but Wild calls it the cooking song, because both he and the king hum it while cooking.

Wild manages to churn out some great honeyed crepes before everyone else starts waking up.

They chat and laugh while occasionally sparing glances over at him. He stays far away. He loves them...but he can't lose them. So he stays away.

Wind comes over after some time, sitting on the other end of the log he's called home the entire night.

"So...Do you wanna talk about it?" Time shakes his head quickly, curling up a bit more, arms hugging his knees a little tighter.

"Okay. I can get that. One time I had a nightmare about a bear grabbing Aryll and I didn't tell anyone for a _week_!" Wind smiles as he talks, and Time gets a flash of the sneer he had worn the night before. Wind's smile falters when Time gives no visible reaction to the story, but he keeps going.

"So I was thinking. Maybe we stop in Lurelin Village before heading into the rainforest? Wild said it was pretty similar to Outset!"

Time nodded numbly again, still trying to separate the vision of Wind from last night and this Wind. The little hero was helping by sitting further from him and talking to him cheerfully rather than mockingly but his mind still seemed to connect the two.

Wind beamed at the approval of the leader before bounding off and shouting.

"Time said yes! Suck on that, _Warriors_!"

"I told you, you really shouldn't be bothering him right now! He's still pretty shaken if his posture is anything to go by and we don't know what happened last night!" The captain reprimanded the youngest of the group. Wind pouted but nodded as Time watched.

He wishes he could just _show_ them what happened. It would be so much easier than just...trying to power through the fear's dam, which as he had anxiously guessed, still held as strong as it did last night.

His hand drifted over his throat, feeling it and where he imagined the dam might be. His other hand slowly formed letters. It was slow, and he had gotten rusty but eventually he spelled out _mask_.

A little more confident, he tried his name. _Link_ . No, to his boys, he was _Time_.

He kept going. This fear that gripped his throat and blocked his words hadn't shackled his hands. He let his other hand drop as he started signing a bit faster. _Nightmare. Dust. The moon._

He hadn't realized the chatter had stopped until he was signing full words as his mind remembered what it had been taught years before. He looked up to see all eight of his boys staring at him.

Wild cocked his head.

_What's this about a nightmare on a dusty moon?_

"Hold up. Wild, you understand all that?" Legend spoke up. Wild nodded. 

"Translate for him. His sign is different from yours, so we don't know what he's saying." Twilight asked.

Wild nodded again, more determined this time and walked over to sit on Time's log, the same place Wind had been a bit ago.

It came out of him in a rush. The statues, the mask, the dust and ash, the abyss, the empty promises it had, the burning light and burning force. The moon, Majora's voice. Watching them all crumble before him. When he was done, all of them were slack-jawed.

The sight broke him out of his recollection.

He couldn't help it.

He laughed.

He laughed and then it quickly turned to sobs as his boys slowly came in and hugged him. They didn't crumble. He didn't burn. No one had a mask on. He cried and sobbed but they didn't leave.

They wouldn't leave, they promised. It was a different kind of promise. Not like the ones the abyss made. Those were empty. This one was full.

Full of love.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Love you all so much! <3!


End file.
